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Tabitha Smith (Earth-616)
Real Name Tabitha Smith Nicknames: Tabby Former Aliases Boomer, Boom-Boom, Firecracker, Time Bomb, Mutate #35, Nancy Forrester, Current Aliases: Meltdown Status Occupation: Adventurer, former student, thief, member of HATE Legal Status: Citizen of the United State Identity: Secret Marital Status: Single Group Affiliation: Nextwave, Cable's Underground; former member of X-Force, former member of the New Mutants and X-Terminators, former associate of X-Factor and the Beyonder, Genoshan Mutates, Fallen Angels Base of Operations: Base of operations unknown Origin Tabitha is a mutant, born with her powers Place of Birth: Roanoke, Virginia, USA Known Relatives: Lou Smith (father), Amanda "Mandy" Smith (step-mother) First Appearance: ''Secret Wars II'' #5 History Teenager Tabitha Smith had not gotten along with her parents for most of her life, so when her mutant powers emerged, her parents were appalled. Resentful towards her father, Tabitha put a small explosive ball of energy in his food. In retaliation, her father beat her severely. Somehow learning there was a school for mutants in New York's Westchester County -- which was, in fact, Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, headquarters for the hero teams X-Men and the New Mutants -- Tabitha ran away from home, journeying there by train and giving herself the code name Time Bomb. Near Washington DC, the train was wrecked on a whim by the cosmic entity calling itself the Beyonder. Thinking he was a mutant, Tabitha accompanied him. The Beyonder abandoned her but returned and took her to Xavier's school. There the X-Men and New Mutants attacked the Beyonder, who escaped. Tabitha, frightened and bewildered by witnessing the attack, left, but was later found by the Beyonder, who brought her to a distant planet that he called "World Complex Headquarters" of the alien Celestials. There, threatening to destroy the universe, the Beyonder fought and seemingly defeated a number of Celestials. However, that planet was not truly the Celestials' headquarters, and the Celestials allowed the Beyonder to "defeat" them, presumably in order to observe him in action. Terrified, Tabitha demanded that the Beyonder transport her back to Earth and leave her, and the Beyonder complied. Back on Earth, Tabitha alerted the Avengers about the Beyonder. Summoning the Beyonder, Tabitha thereby led him into an ambush by the Avengers and other costumed champions before fleeing the scene. The Beyonder, who had regarded Tabitha as his only friend, allowed the Avengers to defeat him, but then left. Making her way to Los Angeles, Tabitha, calling herself Boom-Boom, encountered the mutant criminal known as the Vanisher, who made her a member of his gang of thieves, the Fallen Angels, and taught her how to steal. Believing that the Vanisher was treating her badly, Tabitha alerted X-Factor to his presence, as she believed the group to be mutant hunters. When two members of X-Factor arrived, the Beast (Hank McCoy) and Iceman, Tabitha changed her mind about turning in the Vanisher and used her "time bomb" power on the Iceman as a prank. The Beast and Iceman pursued her and caught up to her in their costumed identities. She agreed to leave the Vanisher's gang and live at X-Factor headquarters instead. At one point, Tabitha had set off another of her "time bombs" in the X-Factor laboratory as a prank, and Iceman pursued her through the headquarters. Another member of the Fallen Angels, Ariel (Coconut Grove), used her powers to enable Tabitha to escape X-Factor headquarters. Tabitha again stayed for a time with the Fallen Angels, but after an adventure on another planet with them, Tabitha returned to X-Factor headquarters. She was immediately captured, however, by the anti-mutant organization called the Right. Tabitha and other mutants associated with X-Factor regained their freedom, however, and she and her fellow X-Factor trainees went into action as the team called the X-Terminators. About the same time, the New Mutants were left without a headquarters of their own and lived temporarily at X-Factor's. Tabitha was one of the X-Terminators to join the New Mutants when the two teams merged. As a member of the New Mutants, she followed the group under the leadership of Cannonball and, later, Cable. She also remained with the group as Cable transformed it into X-Force. During this time, she became enamored with Cannonball and the two developed a romantic relationship. During her time with X-Force, Tabitha underwent a series of progressive changes in attitude, growing more and more serious as her role as a costumed hero. For a short time at the beginning of her tenure, she called herself Boomer. Later, she changed her code name to Meltdown to better match her more drastic changes in looks and attitude. Eventually, Tabitha was forced to confront her past and deal with the broken relationships of her family. When Cannonball was asked to leave X-Force and join the X-Men, Tabitha reluctantly let him go, knowing their relationship would end. She continued to adventure alongside X-Force, and briefly became enamored of her teammate Sunspot. However, when Cannonball returned to the team months later, the two resumed their relationship. X-Force later agreed to be led by the British ex-government agent Pete Wisdom, who once again turned the team into an underground paramilitary force, at one point faking their own death in order to operate more clandestinely. After one adventure, X-Force survived being in the center of a vibranium bomb explosion. The team decided to let the world believe them dead and to use this status to secretly infiltrate and destroy anti-mutant organizations around the world. After half a year of this hit-and-run strategy, they learned of a great underground complex where Wisdom's sister Romany was infecting people with alien DNA to alter the human race. In the final battle, X-Force destroyed the alien complex and was believed dead. Tabitha and X-Force reappeared at a press conference of a new team calling itself X-Force, challenging the team (now, X-Statix) in dispute for their name. During the battle, Tabitha was teleported by X-Statix' U-Go Girl, left high into the air above a busy freeway. Her final fate remains unrevealed. As for X-Force, the heroes were ultimately forced to retreat and presumably disbanded shortly afterward. When Cable discovered hints to the existence of a revamped Weapon X program, one designed to use mutants to hunt down and intern other mutants, Cable created an organization to investigate the program and the existence of its internment camp, Neverland. He dubbed the organization the Underground, and invited Meltdown to join his elite group. Ultimately, Cable's Underground group was joined by Weapon X agent Brent Jackson, who hoped to stage a coup against the Director and had formed his own resistance group with fellow agents -- Washout, Marrow, Wild Child, and Sauron. With Washout's help and sacrifice, the Underground was able to infiltrate the Weapon X complex, ousting the Director and nearly crippling the program. However, before the final defeat, agent Jackson betrayed the Underground, turning Cable's psychic powers against his allies. Jackson captured the Underground members and altered their memories to erase everything they saw and learned about the program. Even so, Cable and the Underground escaped, aided by Weapon X's Marrow, and believed the program to be nothing more than a military cover story. Nextwave Shortly afterwards, Tabitha grew her hair long and eschewed her codename, re-appeared as a founding member of Nextwave, a new off-beat and more than slightly satirical super-hero team featured in an eponymous comic book series created by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen. The Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort, or H.A.T.E. (a subsidiary of the Beyond Corporation©) formed the team. Tabitha Smith's new team included other 2nd-string characters rescued from Marvel limbo, including Monica Rambeau (formerly Captain Marvel, the leader of the Avengers), Elsa Bloodstone, Aaron Stack and The Captain. Tabitha stole the Marketingplan air craft from H.A.T.E after discovers through theft that a former terrorist cell called S.I.L.E.N.T. morphed into the Beyond Corporation©. They found the corporation’s marketing plan, which involved using H.A.T.E. and their own resources to product-test unusual WMDs on the American public. The biological weapon was revealed to be Fin Fang Foom, a giant lizard which clambered from underground and proceeded to wreck the building site. After putting an end to the threat of Fin Fang Foom in Abcess, North Dakota, Nextwave moved on to Illinois. Tabitha managed to subdue Mac Mangel, a corrupt police officer who had been taken as a host by the Ultra Samurai Seed, with a time bomb. The Ultra Samurai metallic shell disintegrated, leaving Mangel crushed on the ground. Upon learning that he was a police officer, Tabitha and Aaron began to beat Mangel before Rambeau intervened. The team were later attacked by 'The New Paramounts', a team consisting of Not Brand Echh characters including Forbush Man, The Inedible Bulk and Charlie America. Forbush Man attempted to use his mind control powers on Tabitha, but was shocked to find they didn't work on her as she apparently has no mind. Tabitha subsequently killed Forbush Man, saving her teammates. Characteristics Height: 5'5" Weight: 120 lbs (54.4 kg) Eyes: Eye colour unknown Hair: Blonde Unusual Features: No unusual features Powers Known Powers: Time Bombs: can create balls of plasma, which she calls her "time bombs." These "bombs" explode with concussive force. She can produce marble-sized "bombs" which have little concussive impact and which she uses for playing pranks. She has produced "time bombs" ranging up to the size of beach balls, which, when they explode, can smash tree trunks and even metal objects. The amount of concussive impact depends on the size of the bomb she creates, and she can, at least to some extent, control the amount of time until it detonates. After training with X-Factor and adventuring with X-Force, she has learned increasingly greater control over the energy she generates. She can now muffle the sound of the detonation to a limited extent and generate explosive energy as streams that respond to her thought directions. Now possessing greater control over her powers, she can even reabsorb the energy of non-detonated bombs and is no longer afraid to use her time bombs in nearly lethal ways. Known Abilities: No known abilities. Strength Level: Strength level unknown Miscellaneous Equipment: No known equipment. Transportation: Shockwave Rider. Weapons: No known weapons. Notes * Alternate versions X-Men: The End In X-Men: The End, a series set in an alternate future, Tabitha is still known as Meltdown and is still a member of X-Force. When Mister Sinister sends his minions to kill X-Force, Tabitha is one of the first casualties. Engulfed and possessed by Divinity, he uses her powers to try to kill Domino. Tabitha and Divinity are both killed by Apocalypse in the battle that follows. X-Force: Shatterstar In X-Force: Shatterstar miniseries, Tabitha is still known as Boomer and she is seen as a part of cable's rebel forces against Spiral, in a alternate universe where she had conquered and ruled. On that Earth, Spiral had also killed most of that world's heroes and mutants.Together, they eventually defeated Spiral. Tabitha also seems to have developed telepathic powers in this timeline. Appearances in other media X-Men animated series Tabitha appears in the X-Men animated series as a young child, in the episode "No Mutant is an Island" . She was among the mutant children that Cyclops' old friend Sarah takes care of, and Scott has to rescue her and the other kids when the villain of the day tried to imprison them, which forced Cyclops to face his own ghosts and a former orphaned child whose powers made him an outcast. X-Men: Evolution In the X-Men: Evolution animated TV series Boom Boom was voiced by Megan Leitch. Originally one of the New Mutants, Tabitha has a troubled past and a criminal father. Her father took advantage of her mutant abilities to commit crimes when she was younger. She eventually found a home at the Institute, although her stay was short-lived. While not evil or malicious, the lack of discipline and mischievousness made her a troublesome guest for anyone willing to take her in. She spent an episode flirting with Kurt Wagner, whom she saw as someone similar to her since they were kind of outcasts (him, because of his looks; her, because of her family life and her rebelliousness). At the end of this episode, she felt that she didn't fit in and moved in with the Brotherhood of Mutants, who were more her style, saying that there were too many rules at the Institute. She often played practical jokes on the boys (such as shaving off Blob's Mohawk while he slept) and abused their hospitality, though they did little to stop her. Also, at times she'd aid them; she took the always rejected and laughed at Blob and Toad as her dates for the party in Shadow Dance. Tabitha never actually took up a villainous role, though, and she was evicted upon the return of Mystique. She even discovered some of Mystique's plans and, after blowing up her bedroom, she went to the X-Men manor and tried to tell them, but failed. Her role in the series was significantly diminished afterward; she lived on her own and appeared mostly in the company of her best friend, Amara aka Magma from the New Mutants, appearing in several episodes of the series afterwards with no serious loyalties. Finally, according to the season finale, she took the decision of returning to the X-Men's side. See Also * Character Gallery: * Fan-Art Gallery: * Appearances of * Quotations by Related Articles * Links & References * Wikipedia entry for Meltdown ---- Category:Characters Category:Living Characters Category:Good Characters Category:Secret Identity Category:Mutant Characters Category:Blonde Hair Category:Blue Eyes Category:Female Characters Category:Fallen Angels members Category:X-Force members Category:198